The Acknowledgment - Volume One

The Quest Begins Now

                Just to the right of Winter, a gate opened, and just after more gates opened around him. "This was unexpected, but welcomed," he summoned his daggers.

~>System<{" The [Job Change] Quest Will Now Begin,"}>it rang with a bell-like ring<~
~>System<{" [Points] Will be [Accumulated] The Longer The [Player] Stays [Alive]. These [Points] Are Necessary to [Advance] to a [Higher-Ranking Class],"}>it displayed<~
~>System<{" [Timer: 00:00:00],"}>it displayed over Winter's head<~

                "How long will these gates stay open, though?!" Winter asked, looking around, sensing more gates in the back.

~>System<{" Good luck! [Timer: 00:00:01],"}>it displayed, the timer starting<~

                The Timer beeped softly with every second it increased. But, Winter's attention moved to the castes in front of him. Armored Knights began to step out of the gates, two coming from each gate. "I shouldn't have a problem with these guys... Especially now, but if I had to fight more of Igris, I wouldn't have served for more than 60 seconds," Winter thought, more relieved. But, this anger still burnt inside of him. It was hard for him to concentrate with all this power pulsing through his body, but he shook his head and focused on surviving. "The longer I last, the more points I'll obtain... Meaning the higher I go in ranking," he thought, "I may be surrounded, but I like these odds," Winter added, smirking as he stayed in place, watching the knights slowly approach him. "Right, now... There are 20 knights. It looks as if they're growing steadily," he thought, "I need to remove the increasing threat right away," Winter added in thought, rushing at each knight, swiftly tearing them apart. "I have enough cursed energy for 'The Great Ultima's Rage,' but I might not have enough mana to keep 'Speed'," Winter noticed some mages in the room. Wait, what are they doing?" He thought.

~>System<{" The [Mage] Has Used [Skill: Slow]. The [Player]'s [Speed Stat] is [Reduced] by [20%],"}>it rang<~

                "Oh no! I only have a 40% increase now!" Winter mocked the mage, destroying the knights in his way. Making his way towards the mage.

~>System<{" The [Skill: Bloodlust] Has [Leveled up] to [Skill: Necrotic Shroud]!"}>It rang<~
~>System<{" The [Skill: Necrotic Shroud] Has Been [Activated]. The [Target]'s [Stats] Will be [Reduced] by [50%] for [1 minute],"}>it rang again as Winter began to use it<~

                The mage stumbled and failed to hold the skill, and with his speed regained, he swiftly cut the mage down. With it, a gate closed, but there were more gates and even more Knights. "They're just multiplying with each passing moment... I need to kill more mages, wait... Should I be waiting instead?" Winter thought, ripping through 3 knights at once, "If I finish this too quickly, I won't get as many points..." He thought, not noticing a knight from behind. With one powerful swing, it struck Winter in the back, "Ugh! But these knights are becoming a bigger threat. Either I need to kill the mages or knights," he thought, biting into the knight that had just hit him, crunching the helmet. "I would need to kill them faster than the rate they spawn..." Winter thought, destroying more knights. He leaped up, pushing himself off a knight, and propelling himself towards another, slamming his fist into their helmet. "Or learn to avoid them well enough to kill time," he added, starting to go faster. With a burning rage being fanned by the increasing threat of knights. "I need to go faster... But I'm exhausted!" He thought, stumbling just a foot away from the next chunk of knights. "Damn it... I underestimated them, and wasted all my energy on the first few," he thought, ripping free of a knight's grasp. "I could use whatever that was from before, but I don't want to kill the mages by accident," he thought, building up a ball of blood-red and black energy between his horns. "I have to! I need to recover," Winter thought, blasting a beam of this hot, red energy. It melted through many of the knights, cutting their numbers down significantly. "Good, I didn't kill another mage... I have two left, and they're my ticket to getting a high-ranking class!" He thought, trying to recover his energy. "I don't know what kind of benefits I'll get from a higher class, but... I hope it's worth it," he panted, the white mask's jaw open. He looked up to see the timer, "Only 5 minutes?! Dammit... I need to learn how to conserve my energy better..." He sighed, "Well, this is the best place to start," Winter thought.